Foreword
I’m very proud of our involvement in the projects in this book. It makes the sleepless nights, ‘lively debates’ amongst the team and hours invested feel very rewarding. We are an inquisitive bunch of people that thrive on working closely with our clients and collaborators. Always challenging what’s gone before and how we apply what we learn to constantly improve what we do and how we do it. Investing in technology and innovation in demanding markets is a challenge we revel in. We love to design, make and deliver great solutions, keeping things as simple and cost effective as possible, without compromise to form or function. From the ground up, we are inquisitive, we research and we learn. Sometimes we get a bit geeky, but throughout all the projects on the following pages, that geekiness has added value. Designing and manufacturing things in a cost effective manner is a challenge, one that we relish. We keep coming back for more, always striving to improve. I can’t wait to see another book full.
Nick Wraith, Founder
“We make beautifully engineered products designed to get results� Nick Wraith, Managing Director
A refreshing approach to manufacturing
A UK based manufacturer since 1990, Unibox has a wealth of experience working in partnership with both design agencies and end-clients on projects across multiple sectors including; retail, exhibition & event, hospitality, leisure and commercial interiors. Our collaborative approach and expertise in design ensures we deliver intelligent solutions that preserve the original design intention, injecting care, attention, and ingenuity into everything we create.
RIVER ISLAND BULLRING
KPMG Sheppard Robson Our reputation and experience in designing and manufacturing lightboxes presented Unibox with the opportunity to work with Sheppard Robson Architects on the illuminated interior graphics for the new hub for KPMG in Leeds.
The design team behind the new building were keen to infuse the interior with references to Leeds’ heritage and infamous architecture. Specifically in the atrium, the heart of the asymmetric building. Illuminated imagery of historical buildings of Leeds were proposed for the elevator shaft wall running across all 4 floors.
This graphic effect was achieved by seamlessly recessing lightboxes into the elevator walls, behind which were 4000K lighting modules placed behind a polycarbonate diffuser to cast a homogenous glow from within the architecture. This was then faced with a final layer of perforated bronze anodised aluminium panel.
The imagery was generated via laser cutting a dot matrix pattern from the aluminium sheet. When viewed as a whole panel the photographic images came alive.
RIVER ISLAND GATESHEAD
River Island Lightboxes Unibox produces the most technologically advanced LED lightboxes on the market. With virtually no size limitations, we have a wide range of lightboxes enabling our customers to create engaging, impactful retail LED lightbox displays, that help to drive footfall, generate sales and enhance brand awareness.
RIVER ISLAND GATESHEAD
RIVER ISLAND, BULLRING BIRMINGHAM
Large format lightboxes were used to scale up photographic campaigns which were printed onto fabric specially designed for back illuminated applications. The fabric is fixed via a silicone edge that is sewn in to the periphery of the fabric, making it easy to change graphics by in-house teams each season.
RIVER ISLAND, TRAFFORD CENTRE MANCHESTER
Unibox has an in-house LED manufacturing facility, which means we can create all of our light modules to custom specifications enabling us to ensure quality and the ability to make nonuniform shapes for irregular spaces.
Kurt Geiger Shelving Kurt Geiger sent Unibox a brief for a custom fixture aptly named the “forest� concept, which was a based on cantilevered uniformly lit display platforms anchored to a central chrome floor to ceiling pole. The design team had mocked up visuals of the structure and needed to find a manufacturer that had the knowledge and expertise to achieve the desired lighting effect together with the manufacturing capability to create a custom design within a very tight deadline.
KURT GEIGER LAKESIDE, THURROCK
“Unibox are a fantastic company to work with. The lead time between concept and completion was less than 6 weeks! Their technical and design development capabilities are invaluable, enabling them to translate basic design briefs in to something truly great. A lovely team with whom I hope to continue a successful collaboration” Store Design Manager – Kurt Geiger
TOM DIXON FLAGSHIP STORE PORTOBELLO, LONDON
Tom Dixon Magnetik Lightbox Our ongoing relationship with Tom Dixon is true testament to our successful collaborative approach to designing products and systems for retail. Unibox played a significant part in providing fixtures for the Portobello Dock Tom Dixon flagship store, including a freestanding, doublesided lightbox with cleverly concealed magnetic brackets to seamlessly combine illuminated surface with reconfigurable shelving without the visual noise of brackets or fixings.
TOM DIXON FLAGSHIP STORE PORTOBELLO, LONDON
The steel shelves were made unique with branding CNC laser cut into the corner and coated in a bespoke matte black finish to match the surrounding interior finishes.
“The flexibility and versatility of Unibox’s bespoke systems has allowed us to tailor our retail displays to accommodate new stock, in our heritage surroundings. The company’s open attitude towards collaboration, and commitment to incorporating innovative engineering and lighting in their systems, encourages us to continue working with them whether in Milan, New York or at our London base.” Tom Dixon
PRIMARK, GRAN VIA STORE MADRID
Primark Dalziel & Pow Working in collaboration with leading retail design agency Dalziel & Pow, the Unibox team were invited to develop a bespoke lighting feature for the new flagship store in Gran Via, Madrid.
From concept to installation, Unibox was able to ensure maximum quality and attention to detail by using unique in-house capabilities to design and engineer custom aluminium extrusion structures and bespoke LED light engines.
PRIMARK, GRAN VIA STORE MADRID
SUPERDRY, ARNDALE CENTRE MANCHESTER
SuperDry Lightboxes SuperDry’s growth on the British high street continues as we partner up for their new ‘Store of the Future’ concept in the Manchester Arndale. Renowned for their contemporary retail design, SuperDry looked to take advantage of our expertise in LED lighting & graphic displays to enhance the store, using lightboxes to highlight each of the several standalone displays in store.
Consulting on the effect illumination would have in store was key, and with SuperDry’s traditional aesthetic incorporating lowlevel lighting, specifying the correct LED Lighting setup was paramount to a successful environment.
SUPERDRY, WESTFILD WHITE CITY LONDON
SUPERDRY VIENNA
SUPERDRY, KRANZLER BERLIN
SUPERDRY, ARNDALE CENTRE MANCHESTER
Pillars throughout the Arndale Centre store were clad with Ledge 46 lightboxes to maximise vertical surfaces with effective messaging. The 46mm deep lightbox wraps around corners to challenge perspectives and provides an opportunity to use vivid graphics to break up the product display.
Combined with the latest fabric print technology, utilising ultra violet treatments for fluorescentstyle text and vivid graphics, the lightboxes created beacons along the customer journey.
River Island Shelving River Island required a new shelving solution, that allowed shop staff to re-merchandise product displays quickly and easily in line with changing promotions and seasonality. The current problem with existing illuminated shelving was that VM staff were damaging the cable connections when changing shelf positions. So Unibox set about developing a cable-free illuminated shelving system.
RIVER ISLAND GATESHEAD
The core technology inside the Kontakt system remains the same, but how it looks is down to you.
RIVER ISLAND, BULLRING BIRMINGHAM
RIVER ISLAND, TRAFFORD CENTRE MANCHESTER
A mid-floor, free-standing version was also engineered using the same principles as with the wall mounted style, ensuring VM staff have complete flexibility with store layout, whilst retaining the fuss-free properties inherent with Kontakt.
The Kontakt shelving system has a chamelion-like adaptability & has been rolled out in River Isalnd stores in both timber and metal versions designed to compliment each zone.
TOPSHOP, MERRY HILL DUDLEY
Arcadia Topshop Shelving Arcadia approached Unibox to design and manufacture adjustable illuminated shelving for their new store concept. The Topshop in-house design team were already aware of our awardwinning Kontakt system, designed to reduce the hassle of re-merchandising due to the cable-free core technology.
CONCEPT IMAGE
The Topshop team met with Unibox to run through the design intent. The brief was to design and engineer cablefree shelves that could be reconfigured swiftly and easily and that were clean, minimal and in the form of a folded metal sheet.
Prototypes were made and tested in the Unibox factory in Manchester. The shelves were finished in a matte white powder coat, offset by a chrome plated luminaire.
PROTOTYPE
A single luminaire projects diffused light at a 45ยบ angle, ensuring products are evenly and softly lit.
TOPSHOP, MERRY HILL DUDLEY
Double track uprights were used to ensure that shelves could sit adjacently with minimal gap in between.
The Kontakt system was designed to enable VM staff to change the height position of individual shelves without the need to disconnect the electrical connection each time.
Unibox x
Pantheon Interiors Unibox worked in collaboration with new brand Pantheon Interiors to launch a range of occassional tables consisting of the 25|25 aluminium system in highly decorative finishes, paired with a variety of table top surfaces including veneered stone, cork and solid surface. Unibox designed nine structures that are inherently made up of a kit of parts due to the nature of the system, thus creating luxury flat-pack furniture that can be cost-effectively distributed worldwide.
Mondrian Hotel DRS The Mondrian Hotel at Sea Containers is a destination, landmark hotel designed by Design Research Studio under the creative direction of renowned British designer Tom Dixon. Given the heritage of the site, the design team heavily referenced the shipping industry. As part of the project, Unibox were commissioned to produce bespoke metal and glass vitrines to display vintage shipping artefacts including rare and precious large scale model replicas of shipping vessels.
MONDRIAN HOTEL LOBBY SPACE LONDON
A lobby space was designed around the hull of a ship which echoed the hotel’s heritage.
MONDRIAN HOTEL SPA LONDON
The hotel’s luxury spa is located in the basement of the building, away from daylight. The designers asked Unibox to create a soft wall washing lighting effect to enhance the three dimensional wall in the spa’s reception giving it a relaxed atmosphere.
TOM DIXON SHOWROOM NEW YORK
Tom Dixon Showroom Fixture Tom Dixon approached Unibox to design a modular display system for it’s expanding network of showrooms across the world. The system was to house and support a wide range of products including furniture, lighting & accessories. Designed as a flat-pack kit, the fixtures were easily distributed across several locations worldwide.
Historically, Tom Dixon products were displayed as multiples in vignettes. However, with the collection growing rapidly and the increasing demand for shop in shops, the display method needed to adapt so that product could be shown as singular objects or smaller quantities to fit more SKUs into a given footprint. The modular ‘Sol’ system, inspired by Sol Lewitt, was employed to create a three dimensional catalogue, giving customers an overview of the product range but also setting the future aesthetic for consistent shop in shop display.
TOM DIXON SHOWROOM NEW YORK
Gail’s Bakery Holland Harvey Gail’s bakery strive to make each bakery in the chain unique. Unibox were approached by Holland Harvey Architects who specified Neonist in the Clapham branch scheme to create a robust, neon-like installation. The design team required illuminated lettering, cool white in colour temperature to offset the warm natural backdrop, which was individually fixed via hidden components – a seamless intervention.
“Working with Unibox to create the bespoke LED feature was easy. They understood the design intention and created a cost-effective solution. Both the design team and the client are very happy with the end result and I would highly recommend Unibox for a fast, attentive and friendly service”. Glyka, Architect & Interior Designer, Holland Harvey Architects
GAIL’S BAKERY, CLAPHAM OLD TOWN LONDON
Active In Style Active In Style is a predominantly e-commerce business, sourcing and selling new and modern active wear for women. With the recent boom in the health and fitness industry, which has subsequently influenced a ripple effect in activewear in the retail sector, Active In Style were looking to open a flagship store in London to maximise their physical presence.
ACTIVE IN STYLE, KINGS RD LONDON
A lightbox was placed at the rear of the store for a dual purpose, to draw customers through the space and to display the footwear collection. The Ledge 65 Magnetik lightbox is an easy, cost-effective graphic and merchandise display tool that is quick to refresh with new graphics and easy to reconfigure the magnetic shelves and hooks.
A bespoke leather strap feature was developed to suspend a timber rail to add elegance and finish the look.
Custom perimeter units designed to fit into recessed alcoves in the surrounding walls were made using the 25|25 modular system for a sleek, modern and monochromatic look and feel. The perimeter units were not only for in store, but also for pop up events so the 25|25 retail display system offered our client a lightweight, flat-pack kit of parts that could be easily dismantled and re-assembled using only one allen key.
High street bank Start Judge Gill Retail Design Agency, Start Judge Gill, were tasked with developing a new “Self Service Account Opening� for a UK-based high street bank. After creating visual concepts, SJG approached Unibox for assistance in turning their concepts into a reality. Because of our extensive experience in retail display, and in house capabilities with LED technology, we were able to quickly produce a solution that was installed into tha Canary Wharf HQ for review.
The concept incorporated multiple bespoke solutions, notably a new product, known as ‘Kontour’, which is made up of CNC laser cut lettering built into a panel with integrated illumination. For this project, the devil was in the detail. Our CNC laser bed can programmed to cut extremely intricate shapes which in turn means every curvature and tight corner in virtually any font can be realised.
Once the letters were cut from a veneered oak panel, the individual pieces cut from within each letter were saved so that when the sign was eventually assembled, the wood grain remained consistent. A second set of slightly smaller letters were cut from a sheet of opal acrylic to form the illuminated part of the sign. All the cut-out elements were then bonded on to a light panel which was positioned behind the panel so that only the opal acrylic lettering appeared to be illuminated.
The design incorporated halo lighting surrounding each panel so that when in situ, account holders were drawn to utilise the self-service kiosks. For this, Unibox was able to create custom luminaires mounted to the reverse of the panel which was fixed 50mm from the wall, creating a shadow gap. The luminaires themselves were fitted with a blue lea filter, which was chosen from an extensive range of blue hues, to ensure the blue tone was on brand.
Spencer Fenton Design studio Spencer Fenton curated a photography exhibition in collaboration with Verities magazine focussing on the evolving trajectory of personal satisfaction in an increasingly connected and globalised world. The design duo were keen to use back illuminated graphics to enhance the vibrancy of the photography within the exhibtion space.
Royal Academy DRS Design Research Studio were appointed by Peyton and Byrne to design the interior for the RA restaurant, which included a contemporary cubic glass structure to display an extraordinary collection of sculptures from the RA’s permanent collection but also to become a room divider to help zone the restaurant footprint.
ROYAL ACADEMY LONDON
Unibox has a vast kit of parts to create modular displays and structures. A slimline aluminium profile system specifically designed to hold glass panels to create custom sized showcases and vitrines was put forward for the Royal Academy brief. A matt black finish was applied to the metalwork frame the objet d’art exhibited within the curated display. The glass boxes were reinforced with timber inserts and secured together via hidden fixings to create a structurally safe but monumental angular art piece.
The Alkemistry, Selfridges The Alkemistry offers a curated collection of modern luxury jewellery and was embarking on a pop-up retail display within Selfridges Department Store and so approached Unibox to create individual glass cube showcases with integrated lighting.
The metal work underwent an electroplating process to transform the aluminium chassis into a soft brushed brass cube fit to showcase the precious, luxury merchandise. All the supporting mechanisms and fixings also received the same plating treatment to ensure all the details worked together, including the luminaire, which by design is discreetly positioned in the top of the frame.
Getting the lighting right is key in jewellery display, which is why we have developed our own PCB, populated with our ‘Twin Peak’ LEDs (using LEDs in alternating cool and warm colour temperatures) to highlight and accentuate the warmth of the golds and the cooler tones in the silver and sparkling gems.
Carlton House Illuminated Signage Unibox were approached to manufacture illuminated wayfinding designed to be embedded into the fabric of a Venetian Gothic Grade 2 listed building. Integrated LED panels were the obvious choice to create an eye-catching evenly lit illuminated panel.
Unibox is part of the United Aluminium group. Lumenal, a sister company which specialises in advanced LED technology, is on hand to offer ingenious solutions in how to seamlessly integrate light with particular attention paid to elements such as heat dissipation, flux binning, colour temperature and much more are thoroughly explored to deliver a solution that stays true to the desired effect and required performance. The panels required for the Carlton House project were designed to be de-mountable and so the project benefitted greatly from Lumenal’s vast experience, who refined the design so that it was manufactured in a way that could be easily installed and maintained, without affecting the quality or light output.
About Us An award-winning business located in Manchester and London, we specialise in engineering aluminium modular systems and are experts in integrated LED technology. Combining exceptional design experience, pioneering machinery, in-house lighting capabilities, and advanced manufacturing skills, we bridge the gap between production and creativity. Straightforward and principled, we are able to provide our clients with reliable advice thanks to almost three decades of experience, a strong sense of who we are, and a clear vision of where we want to go. We strive to push the boundaries of what’s possible, while remaining honest and upfront at all times meaning we never over-promise and under-deliver.
We invest in our people. We have both technical and creative experts to bridge the gap between concept and manufacture.
Get in touch 0161 655 2121 info@unibox.co.uk www.unibox.co.uk Manchester Greenside Way, Middleton, Manchester M24 1SW London Finsbury Business Centre, 40 Bowling Green Lane, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0NE
